Automatic switch



J. KENNER.

AUTOMATIC swncu.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-30, 1921.

1,4305 10. PatentedSpt. 26, 19.22,.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

m El M; John Kenner abbozmg 1. KENNER.

AUTOMATIC- SWITCH. APPLICATION-FILED nc.'ao. 192-1.

354130510 1 PatentedSept. 26,1922.

Y 3-SHEETS--$HEET 2.

W, Va d FIE El Joh 11 Ken her- J.KENNER. AUTOMATIC SWITCH. APPLICATIONFl-LED DEC-'30, I921.

Patented Sept. 26, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

J NJ

John Kenner Patented Sept. 26, 1922.

is S -T'AT ES JOHN KENNER; OF HEREIN, ILLINOIS.

To alliahom itmdj c'mem- I Be it knowngthttt l Jdmt KENNhm afitizen oftlieUnited Stait'esg residing z t't'He rrinf, in the county ofWillia'nisona'nd State of Illinois, have invented new and useful: Irnproveme nts in Autoil'ia't'ic Switches, of which the following is a',specification. v I I, This inveiitioii rel zites to switches, z'uiiil'has pir'ticulai' reference to 5 mine" which men he opened and cl'osel'clin quickoi-cler to allow the haulage motor, to pnrsue' if pife'clete jjrmined course, different froni the" coursepur sued by the train ofcarsfirom which the haul aige motor is uncouple'fcl" jest prior toapp'rba'ch'of the "switch, 'thusfallowiiigj the train of cars to passover the niainli nefor into a' siding;- depencling' Lipbn the c'oii'rse'pursued by the haulage motor, and more particnlar ly' thefrnztnner inwhich the switch is'ahttiatdiQ The chief"cl' ilrztcte'ris'tic of thepresent in vention' resides in the provision of iheans carried 1 by thehaulagemotor, which can he" set to automatically actuate thdsWitch inthe manner and fo'rthe purposdeho ve set forth, the" switch beingconstructed: so that it can be actuated from either si'cle of thetrackwsty' to perinit the 'h aulige motor and the uncoupled ti ain ofcars to eiitanddefinit coiirses. a I

The natiire and advantages of the 'inven j tionwvill he betterunderstood when the following detailed description is reacl in'connection with} the accompanying drawings the invention residing theconstruction,

pursue differcombi'nation, and arrangement of parts as" claimed.

In the drawings forming part pt pliczition; like'numerals of reference'irithcate' similar parts in the several Views and Where 111 V q vFigure 1- is ztple'n View of the switch'a'na its operating levers?"FigureQ is a se'ctionalview tek en 011' line 22' of Figure 1.

FiguriaS-is a similar view tzikeni oh line" 33 ofFigure l.

Figufe'I-is a side elevation of the 'haul age motor; v I V M Figure5-is'a top plan 'vie'vir" thereof." Referring to the drawings in detail,and

more particularly tflFigiir 1; 10: indicates the main track andlljthesiclihgf the mo'v'f eblejswitch points beingindicated'at 123mlpivoted as at 13'. These switch" pbintsfare operatively connected withbridle 1% mo v-i ahIetraLnSVerseIy of the trackwa'y,' whereby" means;the hi'idle lii ojects an appreciable 111g piiqot ed at 'poiiits betweentheir ends as corresponding f= extremitiefsjof said levers] be?adjacent, en't'ls' of tlf hlfidle "This bridle 1 .s= 1w cu OningTP ingS12 The opposite ends of the shfort levers 20 die coilnect'ed with the' main levers and 17f through the l in'strumenttlity of links, 23'; the

construction" aii angeifiehtfof perts'jbeing such'thattlie' short levers20 function to eq ializ'efthe throw of the I switch regardless of thelength of the' m'ein levers 17, and l7 Ce riedhyedfclh of the minleyers, adj'a} cent the opposed ends'thereof; are curved ex';

tensions 24, the latter being curved in a di rection' of the trztc'kwayahd'edepted to he engaged by: the means carried; tbyjthe haul ing;operetiyely connected as at 21' With the age motor to a'c't -u'kite' thelevers in' a mzinnep andf for a purpose to be hereinafter described."

Links 25 provide "the connections between the corresponclingiehtls ofthe main'levers 17 and 17",end the auxiliary levers 26 and 26 the saidlinks being pivotilly connected Wlth the adjacent ends" of said:auxiliary Y levers as illustrated, The auxiliary lever'26 forms "inreality a continuity of the main s lever 1T aiitlextencls 'alozigtheniain trick 10, While the auxiliary lever 26' formsja 'continuity' ofthe main' leyer'lf a'nd .eiitends v along'the sibling 11. Each of theflalflxiliary levers iisfulcruih'ecl flS fdt QTmi iWaY of its length,While the 'freencl of each a'iixiliary lever is provided with a curvedextension 28. The curved extensions are arranged and used in the samemanner as the curved extensions 24 carried by the main levers abovereferred to. I

Bridging two of the ties 29 at an appropriate distance away from theswitch on the main track 10 are arcuateshaped plates 30, these platesbeing arranged at the opposite sides of the main linefor a purpose to behereinafter set forth. A similar plate 31 bridges the ties 32 at oneside of the main .line in juxtaposition to the auxiliary lever 26, whileanother plate of the same character indicated at 33 bridges the ties 34at one side of the siding 11 and in juxtaposition to the auxiliary lever26. j

The haulage motor indicated generally at 35 is of any well knownconstruction, this motor being equipped with means capable of being setto actuate the switch from either side of the trackway, to open or closethe switch to the main line or the siding, depending upon the particularcourse which the haulage motor is to pursue, and in contra-distinctionto the course adapted to be pursued by the train of cars. lit is ofcourse understood that in mine switches, the haul age motor 35 isuncoupled from the train of cars just prior to its approach of theswitch, and it is necessary to actuate the latter in order to allow thehaulage car to pass over the main line 'or onto the siding, to permitthe train of cars to pass over the particular line or track nottraversed by the haulage motor. For this purpose, l: equip the haulagemotor 35 with a transversely disposed shaft 36, which is journaled insuitable bearings 37. Carried by the shaft ,36 adjacent one end thereofis a bell crank lever, one bran eh 38 of which is associated withtheadjacent terminal of a connecting rod 39, thelatter being operativelyconnected with the manually controlled lever 40. Depending from theremaining branch 38 of the bell crank lever is the switch actuatingelement 41, the latter being slidable through suitable guides 42, andcarrying at its lower end a roller 43. Theswitch actuating element isconnected withthe branch 38 of'the bell crank lever by means of aflink44. Projecting from the shaft 36 adjacentits opposite end is an arm 45,and this arm projects from the shaft in a direction directly opposite tothe direction in which the branch 38 ofthe bell crank lever extends fromsaid shaft. A second switch actuating element. 46 depends from the arm45 and is operatively connected therewith through the instrumentality ofa link 46. This actuating element slides through suitable guides 47 andis also equipped with a. roller 48 at its lower end. The manuallyoperated lever 40 is fulcrumed as at 49 and is designed to engageflanges 50 and 51 projecting from one side of a resilient frame 52. Therelative arrangement of the arm 45 with regard to the branch 38 of thebell crank is such, that when the lever 40 is moved in one direction,the shaft 36 is rotated to move the switch actuating element 41downwardly into an active position, at whichtime the switch actuatingelement 46 is elevated. When the manually operated lever 40 is shiftedin an opposite direction, the switch actuating element 46 at theopposite side of the motor is lowered, while the switch actuatingelement 41 issimultaneously elevated. The frame 52 is as above stated,of a resilient nature, so that when the manually operated lever 40 ismoved in the direction of its neutral position through the operation ofone or the other of the switch actuating elements, the resilient framefunctionsto assist the lever in its return to nor mal position, whilethe flanges 51 and 52 retain the said lever 40 in its upright position.

ln practice, assume that the haulage motor together with a train of carsis approaching the switch over the main line 10, and it is desired tohave the haulage motor continue over the main line, and the train ofcars moved onto the siding 11. The manually operable lever 40 is movedforwardly after the motor has passed the arcuate-shaped plates 30, theseplates being arranged approximately one-hundred feet away from theswitch. Incident to the movement of the lever 40 in a forward direction,the switch actuating element 41 is lowered and as above stated, theswitch actuating element 46 simultaneously elevated, so that the switchis actuated from one side of the trackway. V/ith the switch actuatingelement 41 in its lowered active position, it contacts the curvedextension, 24 carried by the adjacent end of the main lever 17, therebyshifting the lever upon its fulcrum and setting the switch points forthe main line 10. It is of course understood that the haulage motor isuncoupled from the train of cars at some point.

between the arcuateshaped plates 30 and the switch, and moves fasterthan the train of cars, so that as it passes over the switch, it setsthe latter in a manner just described to allow the haulage motor tocontinue its course over the main line. l/Vhen the lever 17 is shiftedin a manner just stated, the curved extension 24 carried by the oppositeend of this lever is moved to a position in close proximity to the mainline, so as to be engaged by the switch element 41 at the proper time.As the motor passes over the switch bringing the element 41 into contactwith the latter mentioned curved extension 24, the lever 17 is againshifted in a reverse direction to close the switch to the main line, andopen the switch to the siding 11. Conse quently, when the train of carsapproaches the switch, the latter is set to direct the train of carsonto the siding 11, After reversing the movement of the lever 17 toclose the switch to the main line, the actuating element 41 passes overthe arcuate-shaped plate 31, thus elevating the actuating ele ment 4 1to its inactive position, and at the same time automatically moving thelever 40 to its neutral position. Incident to the movement of the lever17 to close the switch to the main line, the auxiliary lever 26 issimultaneously shifted upon its fulcrum to position the curved extension28 thereof in close proximity to the main line to be engaged by theswitch actuating element 41 upon the return of the haulage motor 35.Just prior to the return of the motor over the main line, the lever 40which had been previously returned to neutral position, is again shiftedto lower the actuating element 41 to an active position. Consequently,when the motor staits back over the main line, the actuating elementengages the curved extension 28 of the auxiliary lever 26, shifting thesaid lever on its fulcrum to the position illustrated by dotted lines inFigure 1. When the auxiliary lever 26 is thus shifted, it impartsmovement to the main lever 17, shifting the latter to a position to openthe switch, whereby the haulage motor can continue its movement over themain line to its starting position.

The operation of the mechanism at the opposite side of the track isidentically the same as that just described in connection with the mainlever 17 and the auxiliary lever 26, except that the lever 17 and theauxiliary lever 26 are actuated by the switch actuating element 46 atthe opposite side of the haulage motor. For instance, should it bedesired to have the haulage motor enter the siding 11 instead of movingover the main track beyond the switch, the lever 40 is moved rearwardly,thereby lowering the switch actuating element 46 to its active positionand elevating the actuating element 41 to its inactive position. Whenthe actuating element 46 contacts the curved extension 24, carried bythe adjacent end of the lever 17, this lever is shifted to actuate theswitch points with a view of opening the switch to the siding 11. As thehaulage motor enters the switch 11 the curved extension 25 carried bythe opposite end of the lever 17, is engaged by the actuating element 46having been shifted to a position in the path of movement of thiselement incident to the opening of the switch to the siding. When thelatter mentioned extension 24 is engaged by the trip element 46, themovement of the lever 17 is reversed, closing the switch to the siding11 so that the train of cars will continue along the main line. Afterhaving engaged the curved extension 24, the switch element 46 passesover the arcuate-shaped plate 33, thereby elevating the actuatingelement to its inactive position, and automatically returningthe lever40- toneutral posi tion. Incident to the movement of the lever 17 toclose the switch to the siding 1 1, the auxiliary lever 26' is shiftedto position the curved extension 28 thereof in the path of movement ofthe element 46, so that the switch can be actuated upon return of: thehaulage motor, to set the switch so that the motorcan pass from thesiding back onto the main line. For this purpose, the lever 40 is againshifted rearwardly, thereby lowering the actuating element 46, and whenthe haulage motor starts back over the siding 11, the element contactsthe curved extension 28 of the auxiliary lever 26', and shifts thislever together with the lever 17 in a manner to open the switch to themain line. After having actuated the auxiliary lever 26 in this manner,the actuating element 46 again passes over the curved plate 38 andreturns said element together with the manually operated lever 40 totheir normal positions. Should either of the actuating elements 41 or 46be in their active positions, after the haulage motor has passed overthe switch on its return to the line, it passes over one or the other ofthe plates 30 so that the parts are automatically returned to normalposition. The mechanism is simple in construction, and very positive inoperation, and after placing the operating lever in either of its activepositions, it does not require the attention of the operator as it isautomaticall returned to normal position after the switch has beenproperly actuated.

WVhile it is believed that from the foregoing description the nature andadvantages of the invention will be readily apparent, I desire to haveit understood that I do not limit myself to what is herein shown anddescribed, and that such changes may be resorted to when desired as fallwithin the scope of what is claimed.

What I claim is:

1. In a railway switch operating mechanism, the combination with a maintrack and a siding, of levers arranged at the opposed sides of thetrack, and fulcrumed at points in their length, contact members carriedby each lever adjacent its ends, equalizing members operativelyconnected with the aforementioned levers and with the switch elements,car carried means operable to selectively actuate either of the firstmentioned levers, whereby the switch can be opened and closed atpredetermined intervals to either the main track or said siding, themeans arranged along the tracks for automatically returning the carcarried means to normal position.

2. In a railroad switch operating mechanism, the combination with a maintrack and a siding, of levers arranged at the opposed sides of the trackand fulcrumed at points in their length, contact members carried by eachlever adjacent its ends equalizing members operatively connected withthe aforementioned levers and with the switch elements, car carriedmeans operable to actuate either of the first mentioned levers, wherebythe switch can be opened and closed at predetermined intervals to eitherthe main track or said siding, auxiliary levers pivotally connected withthe aforementioned levers, curved contact members carried by theauxiliary levers and adapted to be shifted into the path of movement ofthe car carrying means incident to the opening and clos- 1L5 tacts ofthe auxiliary levers for the purpose 20 specified.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

JOHN KENNER.

